My older uncle kindly let me work in his office which lies just next to the famous Hafnafjordur harbor. By now I've collected quite an impressive set of "pictures taken from my office window". Maybe I should set up a display at the local gallery.
Showing posts with label Iceland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iceland. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
My office in Iceland
My older uncle kindly let me work in his office which lies just next to the famous Hafnafjordur harbor. By now I've collected quite an impressive set of "pictures taken from my office window". Maybe I should set up a display at the local gallery.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
More new years 2006 pics
Me (with wine), Granddad, hidden Svava, house-working Uncle and Svava's GrandmaUncle and nephew.
Either he looks young or I look old.
It's New Years Eve, isn't it?
Either he looks young or I look old.
It's New Years Eve, isn't it?
New year 2006
I spent New Years eve with my younger uncle and Svava, his girlfriend. They invited me, Svava's grandmother and my grandfather to an intimate dinner. The dinner was a culinary piece of art. And uncle looked dashing in his pink shirt.
We managed to tick all the boxes. Listened with one ear to the Presidents annual speech, laughed (or not) at the annual new years comedic review (one of Icelnand's great New Years traditions), plunged ourselves into drunken tupor together with some friends of Svava and then headed out to a fancy New Years party downtown.
But the highlight must have been the 12.00 fireworks. In Iceland, there is no central firework display. Instead, every man and his dog (or cat) competes with their neighbor who has the most expensive, loud, brash display. It makes for an hour of light and thunder that made Reykjavik look like a war scene off CNN. In a nice way.
I have a good feeling about 2007
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Bombs, Iceland nightlife
Young Uncle works for a wildly successful Icelandic company (in many ways he is the original Icelandic Expat) and was given a New Years bonus. He decided to spend most of it on a really big bomb. That's what they do in Iceland during new years. They blow stuff up.
The kids were really excited. So was I, but you can't see me in this picture because i'm actually taking it.
Young Uncle decided to show me the wild side of Iceland. We started with a "pre-party". Because booze is so bloody expensive in Iceland, the tradition is to warm up properly before you go out.
Icelandic people are not very warm. At least the ones I know like talking really slow, making considered remarks about the progress of Einar's business and the nature of Nordic competitiveness. The really weird thing was how everybody waited their turn, and even gave a seconds pause between people speaking so that everyone had a chance to think about what had been said. It can take a long time for seven Icelandic men to come to agreement this way.
I was about to gnaw of my left arm at one point, but luckily someone finally took the initiative and led the conversations onto the more heated topics of booze and women. By heated I mean that comments were less thoughtful and the pause between people speaking was reduced to maybe half a second.
We made it outside finally, around 3am. Well, it's was New Year's Eve the day after so the town was understandably less energetic than it could have been. But it was interesting to see how these people jigg and I got a picture of myself on the dancefloor. Mission accomplished.
The kids were really excited. So was I, but you can't see me in this picture because i'm actually taking it.
Young Uncle decided to show me the wild side of Iceland. We started with a "pre-party". Because booze is so bloody expensive in Iceland, the tradition is to warm up properly before you go out.
Icelandic people are not very warm. At least the ones I know like talking really slow, making considered remarks about the progress of Einar's business and the nature of Nordic competitiveness. The really weird thing was how everybody waited their turn, and even gave a seconds pause between people speaking so that everyone had a chance to think about what had been said. It can take a long time for seven Icelandic men to come to agreement this way.
I was about to gnaw of my left arm at one point, but luckily someone finally took the initiative and led the conversations onto the more heated topics of booze and women. By heated I mean that comments were less thoughtful and the pause between people speaking was reduced to maybe half a second.
We made it outside finally, around 3am. Well, it's was New Year's Eve the day after so the town was understandably less energetic than it could have been. But it was interesting to see how these people jigg and I got a picture of myself on the dancefloor. Mission accomplished.
Family party in Iceland
I'm in Iceland and my granddad is holding a party for the whole family.
The ladies of the family. Actually the two on the sides married themselves into the family. The one in the middle is my mum's sister. As you can see, the handsome gene runs with the darker side of the family.
The niece generation
My older uncle is the keeper of the family secret recipe for some sort of lemon mousse. It's really tasty and is a must for an Icelandic Christmas.
The ladies of the family. Actually the two on the sides married themselves into the family. The one in the middle is my mum's sister. As you can see, the handsome gene runs with the darker side of the family.
The niece generation
My older uncle is the keeper of the family secret recipe for some sort of lemon mousse. It's really tasty and is a must for an Icelandic Christmas.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
ICELAND!!!
It's a beautiful video showing some of the most beautiful places in Iceland. Well... Beautiful in a rock, volcano and darkness kind of way. I like the song... it's about a boy who wakes up to find that the sun has dissapeared. In the end he finds it.
I've got to admit something. First time I watched this video I started crying. By the end of the video I had tears flowing down my face- happy tears, not sad tears. In a really happy way. I thought, "Damn, I'm not telling ANYONE about this". However, I've been reading reviews of the video on the net and found several people who reacted in a similar way, started crying. That's pretty cool I think.
So, do give this song the 6 minutes it deserves. Watch the video. And do what I'm doing right now: start planning your next trip to Iceland!
Monday, July 10, 2006
It's bizarre (and i'm back in Beijing)
What a bizarre linguistic experience! The Japanese tourists I was travelling with did not speak English, and I don't speak Japanese. The only language we had in common was Chinese, and it turns out my chinese is ridicilously poor. So, I was struggling to communicate with Japanese tourists in Chinese, in Inner Mongolia of all places... Truly bizarre.
What a bizarre challange to my national identity! The thing that struck me in inner mongolia was the fact that much of the time, I could have been transported back to my childhood in Iceland. The plains, the horses, the sheep, the yoghurt... somehow I even felt a strange spiritual connection between the people descended from the Mongolians of Gengis Khan fame and the vikings. Of course 99% of the time I felt like I was very very far from home. But it was the odd moment when I would suddenly feel I was 5 years old in Iceland again. I felt strongly Icelandic for some reason. I don't feel that very often.
What a bizarre challange to my national identity! The thing that struck me in inner mongolia was the fact that much of the time, I could have been transported back to my childhood in Iceland. The plains, the horses, the sheep, the yoghurt... somehow I even felt a strange spiritual connection between the people descended from the Mongolians of Gengis Khan fame and the vikings. Of course 99% of the time I felt like I was very very far from home. But it was the odd moment when I would suddenly feel I was 5 years old in Iceland again. I felt strongly Icelandic for some reason. I don't feel that very often.
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